Grading Every MLB Team's Wheelings and Dealings

And just like that, Major League Baseball was able to catch its breath.

The 2012 trade deadline was nothing short of explosive on some fronts, while mundane and relatively quiet on others. Some teams, cough, Dodgers, cough, did everything in their power to shake things up, going all-in. Others took a much more conservative approach.

One thing is for certain, the competitive landscape of baseball has certainly seen some power shifts, several of which owed to the moves made this summer.

Baltimore Orioles

8/26—RP Matt Lindstrom and a player to be named to the Diamondbacks for SP Joe Saunders and cash.

Grade: B

The Orioles are having a magical season. They are winning while playing some impressive baseball. The addition of a quality starting pitcher in Joe Saunders and a solid reliever in J.C. Romero has the team in line for a push at the postseason.

7/24—SP Wandy Rodriguez and cash to the Pirates for SP Rudy Owens, P Colton Cain and OF Robbie Grossman.

7/29—3B Chris Johnson to the Diamondbacks for 3B Bobby Borchering and OF Marc Krauss.

8/9—Future considerations to the Cardinals for 2B Tyler Greene.

8/27—OF Steven Pearce to the Yankees for cash.

Grade: B+

The Astros were going nowhere this season. They are, of course, headed to the AL next season. As such, they've decided to go with a full-blown rebuild.

They moved seven players and future considerations out, while bringing back 17 players, a player to be named and cash.

You have to love that the 'Stros are looking long term. They already have a good young core in Jose Altuve and, to a lesser degree, Jed Lowrie. These trades should help to bolster the team down the line.

Kansas City Royals

The phrase addition by subtraction comes to mind when looking at the Royals' moves this summer.

First, getting rid of their worst pitcher in Sanchez was a huge move, even if they only received a 6.00 ERA guy back in Guthrie. However, since arriving in KC, Guthrie seems to have found his way again.

With Broxton, it hurt to give up such a great talent, but he hasn't been the missing piece in the Reds' bullpen quite yet, and the Royals nabbed two prospects in the deal.

New York Yankees

7/23—RP D.J. Mitchell and RP Danny Farquhar to the Mariners for Ichiro Suzuki and cash.

7/31—RP Chad Qualls to the Pirates for 1B/3B Casey McGehee and cash.

8/27—Cash to the Astros for OF Steve Pearce.

Grade: B

The Yankees have been one of the best teams in baseball all season, despite being plagued by injuries.

While nobody can ever count the Yanks out when it comes to making moves, nobody saw the Ichiro deal coming.

Yet it did, and it has worked out wonderfully for them. Beyond that, two of the three trades they made this year involved cash coming to New York. That feels foreign to me, yet it falls in line with the team's stated desire to reduce its payroll.

San Diego Padres

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None.

Grade: C+

The Padres had plenty of opportunities to move Carlos Quentin and Chase Headley, for example, but opted to sit tight.

In some regard, you have to respect the team for deciding to wait for its young talent to develop. After all, they can afford to allow players like Yonder Alonso and Cameron Maybin to grow with solid veterans like Quentin and Headley around.

Seattle Mariners

7/23—OF Ichiro Suzuki and cash to the Yankees for RP D.J. Mitchell and RP Danny Farquhar.

7/31—RP Steve Delabar to the Blue Jays for OF Eric Thames.

7/31—RP Brandon League to the Dodgers for OF Leon Landry and RP Logan Bawcom.

Grade: C

The Mariners, since making these trades, have caught fire, playing some of the best baseball in the league.

It is hard to imagine that giving up your marquee player would light a fire under the rest of the team, but apparently it has.

The only issue I have is that the Mariners didn't take advantage of a crazy trade market to try to move Felix Hernandez. The return on him would have been tremendous this season, catapulting the Mariners into a top-tier franchise in no time at all.

Toronto Blue Jays

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7/20—RP Francisco Cordero, OF Ben Francisco, P Joe Musgrove, SP Asher Wojchiechowski, P David Rollins, C Carlos Perez and a player to be named to the Astros for RP Brandon Lyon, SP J.A. Happ and RF David Carpenter.

7/31—OF Eric Thames to the Mariners for RP Steve Delabar.

7/31—OF Travis Snider to the Pirates for SP Brad Lincoln.

Grade: A-

Offense has never been an issue for the Blue Jays, so there was no real need to address it midseason. That's especially true considering that the Jays are last in the AL East.

The moves they made all have the future in mind. The team has stockpiled arms. With the number of pitching injuries to hit the club this year, that comes as no surprise.

Washington Nationals

8/3—C David Freitas and cash to the Athletics for catcher Kurt Suzuki.

Grade: B

The best team in baseball didn't need a whole lot of tweaking, so with trades they were just one and done.

Adding Kurt Suzuki gives the team a better option at catcher than what they had before. Though his numbers in Washington have not been eye-popping, he is a career .253 batter with some power potential.